Mitsui Chemicals

As a part of the Mitsui conglomerate, Mitsui Chemicals manufactures and markets a variety of chemical products. The company’s products include ethylene, propylene and other petrochemicals, as well as basic chemicals, synthetic resins and fine chemicals. Mitsui Chemicals is based in Japan, but operates worldwide.

Total score

16 / 48

Grade summary

To our knowledge, Mitsui Chemicals produces one highly hazardous substances. However, there is no available data for the 82 percent of the company’s production that takes place outside of the EU and US, leaving the company with just…

Product Portfolio

3 / 18

Mitsui produces/uses 1 highly hazardous substance – 1 SIN List chemical (no PICs, and no HHPs) – which is not included on the EU’s REACH Candidate List, meaning it is neither banned nor restricted to use. The company produces no persistent chemicals.

Please note that there is no available data for the 82 percent of the company’s production that takes place outside of the EU and US. Lower EU/US production means higher uncertainty with regard to the total production of hazardous chemicals, which will have a negative impact on the company’s score in this category.

Development of Safer Chemicals

9 / 12

Mitsui Chemicals has a method in place to screen and assess the sustainability of its products and includes the intrinsic hazards of ingredients in the screening process. It does not, however, exclude substances with toxic properties from its new products. Mitsui Chemicals actively markets safer alternatives both on its own website as well as on ChemSec Marketplace. The company has at least one product, process or innovation that enables production of circular products. Mitsui Chemicals uses bio-based resources without occupying extra land or competing with food production. However, it does not source and treat recycled materials in a sustainable way, which is one of the key elements of a circular economy. Mitsui Chemicals is actively reducing the hazardous waste it generates.

Management & Transparency

4 / 12

The Japanese company does not produce only sustainable products. Nor does it have a phase-out strategy for hazardous substances that go beyond regulatory compliance. It shares chemical safety information on its website and is following a credible code of conduct standard. Mitsui Chemicals responded to ChemSec’s attempts to communicate around its ChemScore ranking, but it does not share any information about what kind of chemicals it produces in regions with low regulatory demands for transparency (e.g. Asia). Mitsui Chemicals does have a circular economy program in place, but it is lacking objective and measurable circular economy targets.